Puerto Rico GO Week
By Samantha DePriest
Our Puerto Rico GO Week Team of 32 students and 1 TCS parent was led by High School Principal Kimberly Jones accompanied by Varsity Football Coach Kenny Dallas and High School Spanish teacher Nathan Blevins. This was Mrs. Jones second time leading the Puerto Rico GO Week trip and shared, “Our group served at YWAM (Youth With a Mission) and at the Center Cristiano Casa de Pacto assisting with painting, cleaning, and setting up their converted meeting space. Because of our students help, the center was ready to welcome families for services this Sunday. Praise the Lord! After serving in the community and putting in hours of work each day, our group enjoyed the sights in Old San Juan and even took a catamaran adventure complete with sand, scuba, slides, and smiles galore! We have enjoyed all aspects of our Puerto Rican adventure together!”
Trinity High School Spanish teacher Nathan Blevins shared, “I was able to go on the Puerto Rico trip with Coach Dallas, Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Stiehl (one of the senior's parent) and over 30 of our high school students. It was great to get to know some of our students on a closer level outside of the classroom, as well as get to know some students I did not know at all. We were able to work with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) which is a group that partners with local schools and churches to reach young people. The main focus of our work was helping prepare YWAM's facility for the upcoming school year, which begins in January in Puerto Rico. Our students jumped right in landscaping (mowing, weedeating, cutting down trees with chainsaws, hacking down heavy brush with machetes), prepping and painting fences, doing drywall, pressure washing and clearing out rooms. It was really neat to see our students jump in without hesitation or complaint to do some very tedious and difficult work.
On a personal note, it was fun for me to get to use my Spanish in a non-classroom setting. I had several conversations with the YWAM leader and it was cool to see how encouraged he was by our group and how our efforts helped energized him and his team for the beginning of their busy season.
Our group was also able to experience the local culture by walking the streets and markets of Old San Juan, exploring the area near our hotel, and enjoying the beach and a catamaran cruise.
Overall I think it was a great experience for our group and our students gained a bigger appreciation for how blessed we are. I also think that it gave them a deeper sense of what really matters in life and how happiness is a result of a personal relationship with God!”
